USA West Travel guide

USA West : Michelin's recommendations

The American West is unique for the diversity of its landscapes, climate, culture and history. Naturally there are cowboys and Indians, the Rocky Mountains, the Grand Canyon and the beaches of California…but there are also lunar landscapes, farms, huge orchards and garish neon signs. The West can be conjured up by the howl of a lone coyote or the thunder of a galloping bronco at an Oklahoma rodeo, by revving motorcycles in the Black Hills or the voices of the famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The incantations of a Hopi sorcerer and the monotonous jargon of a blond surfer may have nothing in common, yet they are both symbols of the American West. Writers and artists in the late 19C created a legend out of this harsh but awe-inspiring land as a place riddled with danger. In the 20C the panoply of cowboys and Indians, soldiers, drop-outs and stoic pioneers was used in an oversimplified and excessive manner by the Hollywood film industry, another local invention. To this day the legend continues to smooth over reality. So, why not go and find out for yourself what it’s all about!

USA West : Must-see towns and regions

Filling a vast coastal plain framed by towering mountains, this sprawling, sun-drenched megalopolis is the largest metropolitan area in the US, a collection of once-distinct cities and towns that have...

Located in the heart of the Sonoran desert, greater Phoenix is known as the Valley of the Sun. This desert oasis stretches across more than 2,000sqmi and takes in Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa and other com...

With its gleaming high rises overlooking a vast, bustling bay, San Diego appears the very image of its ranking as the second largest city in California (after Los Angeles) and the eighth largest in th...

Founded as Mission Dolores (by priests) and the Presidio (by soldiers) in 1776, San Francisco grew from the pueblo of Yerba Buena. In 1835, English sailor William Richardson, married to the daughter o...

The Texas capital, located between the rolling Hill Country and fertile farmland, has a vibrant cultural life and a young population that includes 50,000 University of Texas students. Founded in 1835 ...

Houston embodies much of Texas’ mystique, the myth that bigger is better. The city sprawls across more than 617sqmi of bayou country; the metropolitan area takes in 9,000sqmi and is bound by one of th...

Unlike Phoenix, which has conquered the desert with massive irrigation projects, Tucson embraces dry land. With little or no agriculture, the city has come to consider green lawns a waste of time and ...

The 19C port and timber town of Tacoma recently has reinvented itself as a livable modern city of 197,000 people, complete with fine museums, galleries and branch campus of the University of Washingto...